


Conversations

by AllThoseOtherWorlds



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Feels, Gen, He also does not think that the core of a star is a realistic building material, Insecure Tony, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark can wield Mjolnir, Tony Stark-centric, Tony wants to know what worthiness is and how it is defined
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-29 21:13:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5142626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThoseOtherWorlds/pseuds/AllThoseOtherWorlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony knew it wasn't nice to touch other people's stuff, but he didn't think it was that big of a deal - all he'd done was pick Mjolnir up to examine her. He'd even asked her first!</p><p>In which Tony can wield Mjolnir and doesn't know what that means.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or Norse mythology. I do not make money from this.
> 
> So I wrote this instead of my NaNoWriMo novel because I was having Tony and Mjolnir feels...  
> Feedback is appreciated!

Mjolnir was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, Tony thought, examining the hammer from where Thor had left her sitting on the floor in the living room. She was sturdy but intricate, and Tony had never seen anything like her. He had no idea what metal or stone she was made of - probably some sort of magical Asgardian substance - and he was dying to examine her in more detail.

He knew it probably wasn’t _polite_ to touch other people’s stuff, but it wasn’t like he was going to _do_ anything with her, right? He was at least aware that he needed permission if he was going to run tests on her or something. All he wanted to do was take a look at her and see what she might be made of.

With that settled, he approached the hammer and bent down to pick her up. The handle was cool to the touch, and he felt a slight tingle run under his skin when he grasped it. He made a mental note of that - it didn’t feel like an electric shock (and how he knew what electric shocks felt like was strictly between him, Dummy, and Jarvis) but he couldn’t think what else it might be either. It almost seemed as though he could feel the hammer’s presence in his mind, soft but strong, and although it seemed a bit far-fetched he wasn’t really surprised. After all, he invented AIs and Thor was a god who came from a world with real magic, and it wasn’t all that surprising if the hammer was sentient.

Although, if that were the case…

“Do you mind?” Tony asked, feeling slightly ridiculous for speaking to a hammer, but not enough to stop. Despite his reputation, he was always careful to respect AIs and ask before he messed with the code, unless it was broken beyond repair. He joked around with Dummy, Butterfingers, and You, but they knew he was joking, and he told them what he was going to do each time he updated their codes. This felt a bit like that, although he knew Mjolnir was (probably) not an AI.

The tingling feeling from the hammer seemed to be agreeable, so he lifted her up to examine the head itself. It was a soft greyish substance, like it appeared to be, but up close he could see that there was something else there too, as if it were a mixture of two things - he would call it an alloy, but he didn’t think they were both metals. One was a medium grey, like stone but somehow not, and the other was a brightly shining silver, but they were so closely woven together that from any real distance they looked to be homogeneous. There was etching on the surface, too - subtle enough that it could only be seen from up close. It looked like it probably had significance on Asgard, but to Tony it was just pretty swirls and patterns, and he was far more interested in the substance and essence of the hammer.

He knew he couldn’t really get much information just from looking at her (and really, what had he expected? Detailed notes on the molecular makeup carved into the bottom?) but he was still loathe to put her down. The slight tingling was still there, and she seemed to like him, which was not something he was used to.

Suddenly an idea came to him, and he addressed the hammer once again.

“Mjolnir, can I ask you some questions?”

The hammer didn’t really respond in words, but he hadn’t expected her to. The tingling feeling still seemed agreeable though, so he continued.

“What are you made of?” he asked. “What substance?”

The tingling intensified, and he thought she sounded just a little amused, but he got his answer. His minds eye lit up with the image of an exploding star, and he could almost hear whispers of magic and chanted words.

“Magic and the core of a star, huh?” he asked. “That makes no sense, you know. You can’t just turn a star into a hammer, it doesn’t work like that, how would that even _happen-_ ”

He was cut off by the shocked voice of Clint, who had just wandered into the main living space and seen him.

“Tony, what are you doing?” Clint sounded confused and very surprised, but Tony wasn’t sure why. He’d been expecting pissed or reprimanding, not surprised.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, turning to face the other Avenger. “I know it’s rude to touch other people’s stuff, Pep’s been _very clear_ on that with me, but I didn’t do anything other than talk to her!”

Clint must have used the weird psychic link he swore he didn’t have with Natasha, because now the other Avengers had arrived and were all staring at Tony. He shifted awkwardly.

“I’m really sorry?” he tried. “I was just curious what she was made of, and it didn’t seem like a big deal, so I-”

“Man of Iron,” Thor said, cutting him off. “I am not upset with you. If Mjolnir has deemed you worthy of holding her, I have no qualms.”

“Wait, what?” Tony said. “You’re not pissed at me for touching her? Then why all the-” he broke off to wave his hand (the one not holding Mjolnir) at the people gathered around him.

“You can lift Mjolnir.” Steve finally managed.

“…Yes?” Tony said. “She’s not really all that heavy, once you get past the tingly feeling.”

“You have communed with her?” Thor asked, intrigued. “She must like you.”

Tony shrugged. “She reminds me a little of Jarvis, but with more imagery and fewer words” he said, before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. “Would someone explain why being able to lift Thor’s hammer is a big deal?”

“ _Nobody_ can lift Mjolnir,” Clint said. “When she first crashed people came from all over to try to lift her, but nobody managed it. Shield had to build a facility around her to keep things under control.”

“Aye,” Thor said. “Only those who are worthy can wield her.”

“But I’m not wielding her,” Tony pointed out. “I just asked if I could pick her up to examine her and she agreed.”

“It is the same,” Thor told him. “She would not have agreed if you were not worthy.”

Tony just stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what that meant. _Worthy._ How would something like that be measured? What _possible_ way was there to measure worthiness that would include both him and Thor? Most measures of morality would probably exclude him, he figured. All he really had going for him on a “worthiness” level was his technological genius, and Thor was intelligent, but he wasn’t a computer mastermind. So how was this possible?

He was suddenly very aware of the many eyes on him, and he had to get out. He took a quick moment to thank Mjolnir (silently, in his head, because if she could plant images there she could probably pick stuff up too) before putting her down and speedwalking to his workshop without even a sarcastic quip to his teammates. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, or what he was supposed to be feeling, and he was too busy trying to figure it out to notice as Thor silently followed him down after giving the others a reassuring nod.

“Anthony,” Thor said softly. “Do you desire conversation?”

Tony sighed. “It’s okay, Thor,” he said. “I’m just… confused. I didn’t realize that Mjolnir had the whole worthiness thing going on, and when I found out, I just-” he stopped, unsure how to describe the strange feeling that had come over him.

Thankfully, Thor seemed to understand. “You are worthy, Anthony,” he said. “You are kind and strong and generous, and I did not need Mjolnir’s confirmation to see that.”

Tony blinked back tears, unwilling to let Thor - or anyone else, for that matter - see him cry.

“Thank you,” he said. “That- that means a lot.”

“It is the truth,” Thor told him, turning to go. “And if you ever wish to converse again with Mjolnir, you need only ask.”

Tony smiled a little, thinking of the tingling feeling and the image of an exploding star, and the presence of the hammer in the back of his mind.

“Thank you,” he repeated. “I might just take you up on that, sometime.”

As Thor left he turned to his holograms and opened a new file, adding what little he knew about Mjolnir and making a note to do some additional research from mythology. He had some work to do, and maybe some experiments to plan too, if Mjolnir agreed to it.

Things were suddenly a little brighter, and he started humming softly as he worked.

He didn’t know what worthiness meant, but if he could wield Mjolnir, there must be something good in him somewhere after all.


End file.
